5k in a week..... Day 3: It was an interesting day....

[Tosh]

I did say I wasn't going to post new threads, but for today I had a lot to say. Its been a strange day for me but I felt some of the experience might be worthwhile reading for others in my position.

Today I got up at 4:00am to see my sister off for her holiday across the Atlantic. After she was gone at about 6:00am I was far too awake to sleep again, so I decided to jump into the games. Get together 4 tables of 15/30 and a coffee an I'm good to go!

I start well winning a nice pot with unimproved 99 and flop trips twice with BB cheese. I've been playing half an hour and I'm up just over 1k, but then the beats start coming. The usual list of sob stories seeing all my premium hands go down to some very fishy players. The tables are great but that doesn't matter and after I finish a 2 hour session, I am down about 2k overall. Nothing major in the swings of the game but these losses still get to me. Coupled with a generally bad week in SNGs/Multis as well as ring games, leaving me stuck about 4.5k.

<15/30 interlude>

I still don't have too much experience at 15/30 - not even 10k hands over a couple of months - but emotionally the games can be exhausting. There are abundant fish, as everyone loves to point out, but for me its not about beating the players, I am playing myself and my emotions. I can easily beat the game, I am stubborn in believing otherwise, but can I beat myself and keep control?

<end 15/30 interlude>

Well after today's session I just felt dejected and frustrated, afterall it was before breakfast time and I had lost more money than the average persons earns in a fortnight. I made a snap decision to quit the games and return to the 5/10 games, I withdrew most of my money from Empire/Party and Stars leaving enough to play 5/10 only.

Not interested in poker I went out for a drive and saw a few friends, all the while I was thinking about if I was too hasty in my decision - this would be the 4th time I have reacted badly to a loss like this. Each time I have learned a lot and its improved me, but each time I've wished I stuck it out.

I came back and sat down in a couple of 5/10 games; I lasted 1 orbit in each, but I couldn't be bothered with them, I honestly believe I should be playing higher than those games and just couldn't motivate. So what to do? Well I wasn't sure but then the thought occurred, what am I actually worried about? I have built a bankroll able to take the swings of the game, I have confidence in my ability and constantly try to improve my game, letting these set backs affect me so badly is just crazy. Whatsmore I am young, I have no family to support and very few essential expenses, the money is my bankroll and needs to be viewed as such. I decided to not let it beat me and redeposited into Empire upto 12k (for the time being). I had certainly had enough of poker for one day but all the same I had made my decision and was pysched up to get going again. Tomorrow is another day and win lose or draw I shall keep going.


Day 3: 488 hands, -$1716.50
Overall: 787/5000.

[bisonbison]

Tosh. Good post.

There's a point at which we have to say that the challenge is welcome and the risks worthwhile. I don't know how much of my excitement about poker is born from fear of losing money, but the excitement makes it worthwhile to play at stakes where the losses could bother me, even though I'm properly banked for them.

[lostinthought]

Tosh,

I'm sure you have heard this before,

5k hands is a drop in the bucket.

If you are bankrolled for 15/30 and want to play it give yourself more hands/time before you make any judgements.

[Equal]

Good thread Tosh... I am interested to read the rest of this story.

I too am like you, that I have trouble focussing at lower limits since the money is just so much smaller. I end up playing worse.

Keep it tight, play well.

[Airpoaneman]

I was watching 4 15/30 tables...following a few people as they played and logged off

As I watched I noticed two tactics that some players used.

*Hit and Run*

They would play 10 to 20 hands until they were either up 250-500 or down 250-500 then take off and go to another table...what is up with that? Its like they are playing roulette...keep betting on 1st 12 and 2nd 12 trying to win a quick buck then taking off. Is there any strategy to this technique?????

*Evaluation prior to Amalgamation*

Taking a seat at the table and watching for a round or two and analyzing the players before joining in the game... would that be a productive use of time?

[1p0kerb0y]

Your determination and perserverance are inspiring! Keep up the good work Tosh.

[Blarg]

I see that at Party all the time too, the hit and run business. That's one reason why the tables are constantly busting and reforming. It can get impossible to have a table last an hour on that site sometimes.

[Ian J]

Tosh,

It's good to know that a player and poster of your caliber experiences the same self doubt as I do at times. Great post.

[Nightwish]

[ QUOTE ]
I was watching 4 15/30 tables...following a few people as they played and logged off

As I watched I noticed two tactics that some players used.

*Hit and Run*

They would play 10 to 20 hands until they were either up 250-500 or down 250-500 then take off and go to another table...what is up with that? Its like they are playing roulette...keep betting on 1st 12 and 2nd 12 trying to win a quick buck then taking off. Is there any strategy to this technique?????


[/ QUOTE ]
This is a standard fish tactic. They'll keep on moving around from table to table until they find their "lucky" table. Of course, for them, a lucky table is one where they're able to suck out a few times with their dominated hands. Usually, they then proceed to give it all back and the table becomes "unlucky" again... /images/graemlins/smile.gif

[ QUOTE ]

*Evaluation prior to Amalgamation*

Taking a seat at the table and watching for a round or two and analyzing the players before joining in the game... would that be a productive use of time?


[/ QUOTE ]
Not really. I will sometimes watch a table for a few hands to see how it's going, but I'll usually just come in based on the average pot size and whether or not some of my favorite fish are in the game.

[Greg J]

Just wanted to concur with Ian here. It's reassuring that everyone gets, "dejected and frustrated" as you put it.

I love these quest threads. Hope it goes well for you Tosh!

[Tosh]

It has been the consideration of whether I could bring myself to get a decent sample rather than my concerns coming from how many hands I have.

[adamstewart]

Just to reinforce what others have said... Thanks for the post, Tosh. Lately, I've felt as though I can't break out of this plateau that I've been in. Even though I currently play at limits much lower than yourself, your words were reassuring.

Adam

[stripsqueez]

nice post - felt all too familiar

i hear the advice that you should take a break when running bad given all the time - i'm happy with the idea that if you just dont feel like playing dont play - i've logged on to 3-4 games played an orbit and decided i just cant be arsed and done something else - but - these days i figure the big challenge is playing when your losing - playing is just being in a fit state to play - its not going to beat you technically and giving in to the way you feel is why those other blokes are always losing

i find having a 1,000BB bankroll helps when trying to be this brave

stripsqueez - chickenhawk

[TwoNiner]

Even if you are the most seasoned of multi-tablers I think dropping down to 3 or maybe even two tables of the Party 15-30 will show dramatic improvement in your BB/100, and when you aren't showing a profit yet that's definitely what you should shoot for. There are so many bets to be made betting your hand against weak players, or letting the table maniacs do the betting for you when they have nothing that it is really what makes up much of the profitability of that game. Like others have said I don't think it is extremely difficult to beat, it is just that it could be difficult to beat on any form of "autopilot". Many of the players are terrible, but if a couple of those maniac's turn raises take a huge pot away from you before you recognize their play, then that could be the difference of you having a winning or losing session.

Another thing that helps is if you do want to play 3-4 tables is to at least give yourself 20 minutes or more playing two tables while concentrating on those players. That way when you add on your other two tables you can focus on those new tables and within time have a decent grasp on all of them. If you crank four up too quickly I think it is very difficult to absorb all the info at one time. I find myself saying "Okay UTG raised, remember to see what he had at showdown"... other table "ah [censored] AQ and UTG2 raised what do I know about this guy" ... "ahh crap I missed what table one had at showdown?" /images/graemlins/wink.gif Anyways, that's the general problem you run into.

Like other's have said, this is probably just a small sample size and you can beat the game, but untill you are really beating it at a good clip I think raising your winrate is more important than getting more hands in per hour.

I like the writeups. Good Luck

[KingSix]

Tosh--

We've all been there. I've withdrawn from Party claiming "I'll never go back" a hundred times. After an hour or two somewhere else, I am right back on Neteller putting money back into Party.

If you didn't have that little bit of self doubt and reflection, you'd be just another one of the maniacs on Party. You seem to be able to manage it to a degree, and that will take you a long way.

King